Rechabites, a tribe of Arab origin and Bedouin habits who attached themselves to the Israelites in the wilderness and embraced the Jewish faith, but retained their nomadic ways; they abstained from all strong drink, according to a vow they had made to their chief, which they could not be tempted to break, an example which Jeremiah in vain pleaded with the Jews to follow in connection with their vow to the Lord (see Jer. xxxv.).